A City is Not a Tree
by Michael W. Mehaffy, Christopher Alexander · first published 2016
47% recommend50% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short 1965 essay arguing that planned cities fail because they are built as tree hierarchies while living cities are overlapping semilattices. Suits readers interested in systems thinking, urban planning and design.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2009–2026Notes on the synthesis of form
Christopher Alexander
Recommended by 34 · mentioned by 6134 recommend · 61 mention34 recommend · 6134 recommend
Art of Not Giving a Fuck
Christopher Biog
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 53 recommend · 5 mention3 recommend · 53 recommend
2008–2024The Oregon experiment
Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein, Shlomo Angel, Sara Ishikawa
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 144 recommend · 14 mention4 recommend · 144 recommend
2008–2026The Timeless Way of Building
Christopher Alexander
Recommended by 67 · mentioned by 10367 recommend · 103 mention67 recommend · 10367 recommend
2007–2026A pattern language
Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson
Recommended by 110 · mentioned by 226110 recommend · 226 mention110 recommend · 226110 recommend
2009–2025The logic of failure
Dietrich Dörner
Recommended by 15 · mentioned by 1715 recommend · 17 mention15 recommend · 1715 recommend
2010–2026The sciences of the artificial
Herbert Alexander Simon
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 2111 recommend · 21 mention11 recommend · 2111 recommend
2008–2026The nature of order
Christopher Alexander
Recommended by 25 · mentioned by 4025 recommend · 40 mention25 recommend · 4025 recommend
Since nobody has cited it yet, see Christopher's Alexander "A city is not a tree" [0] for an architect's take on "natural" vs. plannes cities. [0]: http://worrydream.com/refs/Alexander%20-%20A%20City%20Is%20N...
on “The Irresistible Urge to Build Cities from Scratch” ↗…the page can link back to those pages in turn, producing cyclic structures of immense complexity. For some interesting discussion on the limits of tree structures with respect to urban planning see A City is Not a Tree by Christopher Alexander (who is also the inspiration for the Design Patterns movement in software engineering). http://www.rudi.net/node/317
on “In Lisp, should lists be replaced with trees?” ↗…can be modeled as a system. it's the mindset that dominates Tech/STEM sadly. those who scream the loudest (usually those who read Sokal) are also the most clueless about what framework to use when. "A city is not a tree"[1], by Christopher Alexander is a fantastic example of how a "science above everything" mindset keeps us from having good things. Another example of fools (we have many) would be the idea that smart-contracts,…
on “Is Philosophy an Art?” ↗Christopher Alexander's A City is Not a Tree is another great essay on systems thinking. http://www.bp.ntu.edu.tw/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/06-Alexa...
on “The Timeless Way of Building (1979)” ↗Christopher Alexander's A City is Not a Tree is worth reading, for anyone who hasn't. https://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1050153.files/A%...
on “New Cities” ↗…can't load again due to paywall) ends on the note of "the only solution is to build more housing in the most desired places" which is well enough but not true. like Christopher Alexander explained in A City Is Not A Tree, places and locations are not the same thing. We can extend a place far beyond its location by connecting it efficiently to other locations. Build homes, yes. But build really good transit as well. Help…
on “The Housing Shortage Affects Everything” ↗It's not exactly what you're getting at, but you might enjoy Christopher Alexander's essay "A City is not a Tree". It also talks about why highly planned cities can end up not working and feeling "right" in the way that older more incrementally-grown ones can.
on “Vancouver’s new mega-development is big, ambitious and Indigenous” ↗Author and readers might enjoy this piece by Christopher Alexander - A City is not a tree: https://www.patternlanguage.com/archive/cityisnotatree.html
on “Beautiful, boring, and without soul” ↗…"father" of system dynamics) for using computer models to test social policy changes, but also serves as a primer for how systems are complicated, and how to approach reasoning about complex systems. * A City Is Not A Tree (http://en.bp.ntu.edu.tw/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/06-Alexan...): ostensibly a paper about the structure of cities, but but really a deeper insight into the limits of using tree-like structures to describe…
on “Ask HN: Any recommended resources to develop system thinking?” ↗I just read A City is not a Tree, linked somewhere here (http://www.patternlanguage.com/archives/alexander1.htm) and found it quite interesting.
on “Some Notes on Christopher Alexander (2008)” ↗Santa Fe Institute has a podcast on complex systems. There's a chapter on cities that might be interesting if you liked 'A City is not a Tree': https://complexity.simplecast.com/episodes/4 .
on “Some Notes on Christopher Alexander (2008)” ↗…proposed it. Certainly CA is a genius and I think we would all benefit from at least skimming the original "Pattern Language". (His latter work, "Nature of Order", is sublime.) It's worth reading CA's "A City Is Not a Tree" as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_City_is_Not_a_Tree https://www.patternlanguage.com/archive/cityisnotatree.html I feel like Jef Raskin's work ("Humane Interface", the Canon Cat) are closer…
on ““Design Patterns” Aren't (2002)” ↗You might enjoy this essay from 1965, "A City is Not a Tree": https://www.patternlanguage.com/archive/cityisnotatree.html
on “Data-oriented design or why you might shoot yourself in the foot with OOP (2009)” ↗If you're interested in his thoughts on cities, have a look at his "A City is not a Tree". https://www.patternlanguage.com/archive/cityisnotatree.html
on “A non-standard book list for software developers” ↗If you think your job isn't BS you probably haven't read enough adversarial content. 0) The Conspiracy Against The Human Race 1) The Machine Stops 2) The One Dimensional Man 3) A City Is Not A Tree 4) Influence 5) La Technique 6) anything from James C. Scott 7) ... Figuring out the links is left as an exercise to the reader.
on “Why I Find Bullshit Work Intolerable” ↗